Gou was a member of the imperial family in the late Ming Dynasty

Chapter 822 Abdication
Wen Tiren did what he said. Half a month later, the court meeting was held as scheduled. Zhu Shenzhu had just sat down when Wen Tiren, who had been prepared, jumped out impatiently with a thick memorial in his hand, persuading him to ascend the throne again.

This time, Wen Tihen united nearly a hundred officials of all ranks in the court, as well as dozens of nobles in the capital, and jointly wrote a letter, begging Zhu Shenzhu to work hard for the Ming Dynasty and the people, and to ascend to the throne as emperor to rule the world and calm the people's hearts.

Looking at the densely packed signatures on the joint memorial, Zhu Shencui was stunned. He could never have imagined that Wen Tihen would do such a thing. Although he was secretly happy in his heart, his face was gloomy. He threw the memorial on the ground and scolded Wen Tihen loudly, saying that Wen Tihen was clearly framing him as being unkind and unjust. The emperor now was Emperor Chongzhen, who was the successor designated by the previous emperor before his death. If he, Zhu Shencui, took his place, wouldn't he be branded a traitor for all eternity?

Facing Zhu Shenzhui's scolding, Wen Tihen did not back down at all. He immediately retorted that Zhu Shenzhui's promotion to the throne was not only what the people wanted, but also legitimate. As the chief minister, he should put the world first and had to persuade him.

Moreover, since Emperor Chongzhen ascended the throne, he had been incompetent and had a fickle personality. He acted recklessly without regard for the ancestral system, arbitrarily suppressed court officials, and killed ministers and generals in the army. In particular, he handled many state affairs improperly, which led to the country's deterioration. The Ming Dynasty was on the verge of collapse.

If Zhu Shenzhu had not come out of nowhere to save the day, the Ming Dynasty might have perished at the hands of Emperor Chongzhen. Now, Zhu Shenzhu is in charge of government affairs as regent, not only managing state affairs in an orderly manner, but also helping the Ming Dynasty solve internal problems and resist external enemies, thus pulling the Ming Dynasty back from the brink of the cliff.

How could a mere regent accomplish such a great feat? Moreover, Zhu Shenzhui was a descendant of the Prince of Jin, who was the legitimate son of Emperor Taizu. In terms of seniority, the lineage of the Prince of Jin was actually more qualified to be the emperor than the lineage of the Prince of Yan. Now that Emperor Chongzhen was no longer fit to be the emperor, he should pass the throne to the lineage of the Prince of Jin, and let the current regent Zhu Shenzhui be the emperor. Isn't this legitimate?

Following Wen Tiren's heartfelt words, all the ministers who supported Zhu Shenzhui's succession to the throne could not wait to stand up and urge Zhu Shenzhui to become the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Among them, Qian Qianyi was the most enthusiastic. He took out something like Wen Tihen, which also had densely packed signatures. The only difference was that Wen Tihen asked court officials and nobles to sign, while Qian Qianyi looked for upright officials and literati, and there were also many common people who were found from somewhere to put their fingerprints.

Compared with Wen Tiren's joint memorial, Qian Qianyi's memorial could be called a "book for all the people". Looking around, there were thousands of signatures and countless red handprints. When this thing was taken out, Wen Tiren, who originally thought that he could surpass Qian Qianyi, was dumbfounded. He did not expect that this old enemy could come up with such a thing and steal his limelight in an instant.

That's not all. Unlike Wen Tihen's advice, Qian Qianyi's position as the leader of Donglin was not in vain. He quoted from classics, talking about the ancient system of abdication and the current situation in the world. He said that this was not a change of dynasty, but a choice of a wise ruler to replace a foolish one. In addition, Zhu Shenzhu was a descendant of Taizu, a direct descendant of King Jin, and the chief clan leader of the Imperial Clan Court. It was legally legitimate for him to succeed to the throne and there was nothing wrong with it.

Qian Qianyi also talked about the political propositions of the Donglin Party, pointing out that the original intention of the Donglin Party was to save the world and the people and take the world as its own responsibility. This proposition is in line with the teachings of the saints. Mencius advocated "protecting the people, caring for the people, educating the people, and supporting the people", and even said that the world is his own responsibility.

Mencius said: "If one puts profit before righteousness, he will be violent to his people. If one puts righteousness before profit, he will kill his people. Only when a man does not do something can he be a man. If others do not do something, how can one do it? If one's words are always in line with Yao and Shun, and one reflects on oneself, and his heart can be in line with Yao and Shun, he can be called a virtuous man. If one's actions are always in line with Yao and Shun, and one reflects on oneself, and his actions can be in line with Yao and Shun, he can be called a capable man. His words are not polite; his actions are not polite; the reality of politeness is far away. What makes him a Shun? The answer is: he reflects on himself."

Xunzi also said that "water can carry a boat, but it can also overturn it." The words of saints and wise rulers are always right. Now is the time of great changes in the world. Only a wise ruler can lead the people. If Zhu Shenzhu cannot be the emperor, where will the Ming Dynasty go? Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin, also had similar views and even put forward the saying "the ruler is the boat and the people are the water." The reputation of one person is small, but the people of the world are more important. Zhu Shenzhu should put the people first and wait for the throne. This is what everyone expects!

Qian Qianyi's words were eloquent, well-reasoned, and far more touching than those of Wen Tiren. Although Wen Tiren was angry and annoyed after hearing this, and hated Qian Qianyi for stealing his limelight again, he had to admit that he was not as good as Qian Qianyi in terms of talking and quoting classics.

Zhu Shenzhui stared blankly at the Book of All People in his hand, then looked at the joint memorial thrown at his feet, and the court officials kneeling in front of him. His face changed from gloomy to bright, and he remained silent.

After a moment, Zhu Shenzui said nothing, sighed, stood up and left. After he left, with the eunuch's shout of "dismissal of court", today's court meeting ended again. Zhu Shenzui still did not agree to ascend the throne as emperor, but today was different from the last time. Although he did not agree, he did not curse anyone either. This cheered everyone up and gave them hope.

A few days later, the imperial edict was issued, and the position of Minister of Rites, which had been vacant for half a year, was finally filled. This person was none other than Qian Qianyi. In terms of qualifications, Qian Qianyi had no problem being the Minister of Rites, and the Ministry of Rites had always been the territory of the Donglin Party. As the leader of the Donglin Party, he was the Minister of Rites. But the problem was that Qian Qianyi had just returned to Beijing not long ago, and he had only been in the position of Right Censor-in-Chief for half a year. Even if he wanted to be promoted again, it was not the right time. But Qian Qianyi went straight from Right Censor-in-Chief to Minister of Rites.

As Qian Qianyi suddenly took the position of Shangshu, everyone understood what was going on. If Qian Qianyi had not persuaded him twice and was so resolute, how could this old man have survived and held a high position again?
Didn't Zhu Shenzhui's arrangement prove that Qian Qianyi's actions were correct? After Qian Qianyi took the position of Minister of Rites, the voices of the court and the people urging Zhu Shenzhui to become emperor became louder and louder. When the next court meeting was held, all the civil and military officials tried their best to persuade Zhu Shenzhui to obey the will of the people and become the emperor for the sake of the Ming Dynasty. If he did not agree, everyone would not stand up, and even threatened to die to persuade him.

Seeing this scene, Zhu Shenzhui was speechless. He sat there for a long time and finally could only squeeze out one sentence: "You are going to harm me by doing this..."

As soon as these words were spoken, Wen Tihen reacted instantly and shouted "Long live the emperor" in public. As his words "Long live the emperor" came out, the others also came to their senses immediately. For a while, the whole hall was filled with shouts of "Long live the emperor". Zhu Shenzhu's advancement to the throne was a foregone conclusion.

Although the last obstacle to becoming emperor has been cleared, it does not mean that he can become emperor immediately. There is still a lot to do.

The first thing is how to deal with the current emperor, Emperor Chongzhen. He must not be killed. Even if Zhu Shenzhu wanted to be emperor, he would abdicate instead of usurping the throne. No matter how bad Emperor Chongzhen was, he was still the legitimate emperor and the former emperor of the Ming Dynasty.

Therefore, the step of abdicating the throne was necessary. After the abdication, although Emperor Chongzhen was no longer the emperor, he could be given the status of a retired emperor and be supported in the harem, and his children could still be conferred the title of king and princess, but they could not leave the palace. At least they had to be kept in their hands for a long time afterwards to prevent people with ulterior motives from using them to make trouble.

As for the abdication, it should be Emperor Chongzhen who issued the decree himself, abdicating and passing the throne to the regent, Wu Wang Zhu Shenzhui. However, it was definitely impossible for Emperor Chongzhen to issue the decree himself. Although Emperor Chongzhen was not a qualified emperor, he had a very bad temper. Even though he had been imprisoned in the Qianqing Palace for several years, Emperor Chongzhen still did not treat Zhu Shenzhui well.

But then again, Emperor Chongzhen was not a fool. Although he was under house arrest in the Qianqing Palace, he was not unfamiliar with the situation in the Ming Dynasty, because Zhu Shenzhu would often go to the Qianqing Palace to meet with him, talk to him about state affairs, and even show him some military reports and memorials from various places.

Although Emperor Chongzhen was not convinced, he had to admit that Zhu Shenzhui, the regent, was much more capable of governing the country than himself. Many problems that he had been struggling to solve during his years as emperor became well organized and were easily solved one by one in Zhu Shenzhui's hands.

What puzzled Emperor Chongzhen even more were the ministers in the court. In his opinion, all the civil and military officials in the court were untrustworthy people. They all worked together to deceive him, the emperor, for their own interests. If they could listen to him and govern the country according to his ideas, the Ming Dynasty would have been revived long ago. How could it have turned out like this?
But the strange thing is that it was obviously the same people, but they were completely different in the hands of Emperor Chongzhen and Zhu Shenzhui. Using the same people to govern the country, Zhu Shenzhui was able to restore order and gradually get the country back on track, while he demoted so many and killed many, but there was still no effect, and the situation became worse and worse.

What on earth was going on? Emperor Chongzhen couldn't figure it out, and Zhu Shenzhu refused to explain it to him, because Zhu Shenzhu knew that if the self-centered Emperor Chongzhen didn't change his character and views, he would never truly understand the crux of the problem, let alone know that it was because of him that the world was in such chaos.

On this day, Zhu Shenzhui came to the Qianqing Palace in person. He came to the Qianqing Palace today to make preparations before ascending the throne. The so-called abdication edict had been prepared long ago. Qian Qianyi was appointed as the Minister of Rites to prepare for Zhu Shenzhui's ascension to the throne. Once he ascended the throne, Emperor Chongzhen could no longer live in the Qianqing Palace. His queen, concubines and children would also move out of their original residences. Zhu Shenzhui also arranged the place to live, which was Changchun Palace, one of the six western palaces in the inner court.

This palace was built in the 18th year of Yongle, renamed Yongning Palace in the Jiajing year, and restored to its original name in the 43rd year of Wanli. This palace was originally the residence of Li Chengfei, the concubine of Emperor Tianqi, but Li Chengfei died of illness before Zhu Shenzhui came to Beijing. After Li Chengfei's death, Changchun Palace has been idle and no one lives in it. On the one hand, this place is large enough, and on the other hand, it is one of the six western palaces located in the inner court for easy control. In addition, all entrances and exits are in the inner court, so it is most appropriate to place Chongzhen's family here.

(End of this chapter)